April 1, 2024 - Israel-Hamas war

Seven Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp (IRGC) officials were killed in the attack on Damascus, including senior Iranian commanders Mohammed Reza Zahedi and Mohammad Hadi Haji Rahimi, according to an official IRGC statement.

Haji Rahimi was named as the second commander killed in the attack on Iran's consulate building in the Syrian capital, according to the statement shared by state news agency IRNA on Monday night.

Haji Rahimi was reportedly a coordinator for the Quds Force, according to Iran's semi-official Tasnim News.

The IRGC statement also named five other officials who were killed:

That brings the total death toll to at least seven people. 

Israel's parliament approved a law on Monday that would allow the government to temporarily shut down the Al Jazeera news network in Israel.

The law gives the prime minister and the communications minister the authority to order the closure of foreign networks operating temporarily in Israel that are deemed a threat to national security.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he intends "to act immediately in accordance with the new law to stop the channel's activity," according to a post on X.

CNN reached out to the Qatar-based Al Jazeera for comment.

Separately, the United States said it will “continue to make clear” to Israel that it supports “the work that the free press does,” including Al Jazeera, according to State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller.

“We think the work that the independent free press does is important everywhere in the world, and much of what we know about what has happened in Gaza is because of reporters who are there doing their jobs, including reporters from Al Jazeera,” Miller said Monday.

A top commander in Iran’s Revolutionary Guard has been killed in an airstrike on the country’s consulate building in Damascus, Syria, according to Iranian officials and state-affiliated media, which blamed Israel for the attack.

Iranian Quds Force commander Mohammed Reza Zahedi was among those killed in the incident on Monday, according to Iran's foreign ministry.

Speaking to reporters in Damascus, Iranian ambassador Hossein Akbari alleged that the building “was targeted with six missiles from Israeli F-35 warplanes.”

Akbari added that Iranian diplomatic staff and military advisers were killed in the attack, and their names will be announced later. In a separate interview later on Monday, he said two Syrian policemen were among the people injured.

CNN cannot independently verify the claims or casualty figures. 

Syrian state media Syrian Arab News Agency also reported that “an Israeli act of aggression targeted on Monday afternoon a building in Mezzeh neighborhood in Damascus,” causing “massive destruction.”

Asked for comment on the incident by CNN, the Israel Defense Forces said it does not comment on foreign reports. Footage of the aftermath of the blast, published by Iranian state media Press TV, showed damage to the building, fire and smoke at the scene.

The foreign ministers of Iran and Syria also accused Israel of authoring the attack, with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian calling it a “violation of all international obligations and conventions” and demanding a “serious response by the international community. Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad described the alleged attack a “gross violation of international regulations, especially the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations,” according to a readout of his call with Amir-Abdollahian.

Zahedi, the slain commander, was previously the commander of IRGC’s ground forces, the commander of IRGC’s air force, and the deputy commander of the IRGC’s operations.

This post was updated with more details on the casualties in Damascus.

The United Nations is planning a mission to Al-Shifa Hospital as soon as it is "allowed to help people receive medical attention and to assess the facility," the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said Monday.

The announcement comes after Israel ended its 14-day siege on Gaza’s largest hospital on Monday.

At least 300 bodies have been uncovered there so far, according to Gaza’s Civil Defense, and one witness described the destructive aftermath as like a scene from a "horror movie." 

The United Nations also said a WHO team visited the Al-Aqsa Hospital in central Gaza on Sunday when a tent camp inside the compound was hit by an Israeli airstrike.

On Sunday, Martin Griffiths, the UN's under-secretary-general for Humanitarian Affairs, called for attempts to sideline the largest humanitarian organization in Gaza — the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) — to stop.

He called UNRWA "the backbone of the humanitarian operation in Gaza" and added in his post on X that "any effort to distribute aid without them is simply doomed to fail." He added, "No other agency has the same reach, experience or community trust needed to do the job."

Media reports of the aftermath of Israel’s operation inside Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza demonstrate “the need for Israel to have a sustainable long-term strategy” for the aftermath of the war, the United States State Department said Monday.

Miller elaborated that the US still has not seen such a plan from Israel.

Witnesses and Palestinian officials say the Israeli operation left buildings largely destroyed and bodies strewn across the hospital complex. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed its withdrawal Monday, saying its troops had killed Hamas militants, and seized weaponry and intelligence documents.

Miller also said that while the US “generally” does not want to see Israel operating in hospitals inside Gaza, “it is concerning that after Israel had conducted an operation earlier in this campaign to clear Al-Shifa that Al-Shifa again was apparently infiltrated by Hamas fighters.”

“It would be great if Hamas would stop hiding behind civilians and stop hiding inside civilian infrastructure,” he added.

The White House confirmed that senior US and Israeli officials are meeting virtually today as the Biden administration works to dissuade the Israeli government from a large military incursion into Gaza's densely populated city of Rafah. 

The officials are also going to discuss "alternative ways of going after Hamas," she said. "I think it’s important that it happen as quickly as it did even though it’s virtual. And we’ll certainly have more to share."

It is taking place after a previously scheduled meeting was called off by the Israeli government after the US declined to block a UN Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. 

Meanwhile tomorrow: President Joe Biden is expected to host a significantly scaled down iftar dinner at the White House on Tuesday to commemorate Ramadan, three sources familiar with the plans tell CNN. Several people who were invited to the dinner have declined, sources said, citing frustration with the administration’s support of Israel as the humanitarian crisis in Gaza continues. 

Vice President Kamala Harris, national security adviser Jake Sullivan, senior White House aides, and less than dozen invited guests are expected to attend the small gathering, a senior administration official said. Officials are hoping that the dinner will provide an opportunity for the guests to directly speak with the president and share their concerns about the Israel-Hamas conflict, according to a senior administration official. 

CNN's Khalil Abdallah, Camila DeChalus, and Betsy Klein contributed reporting to this post.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) told CNN on Monday that those detained in Al-Shifa hospital during the military raid are being "treated in accordance with international law."

When asked to respond to Al-Shifa medical staff complaints that staff were forced to strip naked, and that one staff representative was left "half naked for three hours before allowed to talk," the IDF responded: "It is often necessary for terror suspects to hand over their clothes such that their clothes can be searched and to ensure that they are not concealing explosive vests or other weaponry." The IDF said detainees were given back their clothes "when possible to do so."

The IDF claimed they were only detaining people they said were involved in terrorist activity, and releasing others who were not found to be involved. 

Israel's claims come as the military withdraws from Gaza’s largest hospital, Al-Shifa, after a 14-day siege that witnesses and Palestinian officials say has left buildings largely destroyed and bodies strewn across the complex. The IDF said Monday that its troops had killed Hamas militants, and seized weaponry and intelligence documents and that troops had done their "utmost" to keep civilians unharmed. 

But Gaza's Civil Defense reported earlier that at least 300 bodies have been found so far at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. The organization added that it was difficult to determine the exact number of people killed as Israeli forces had buried bodies inside and around the Al-Shifa complex and bulldozed nearby roads.

Israel has withdrawn from Gaza's largest hospital, Al-Shifa, after a 14-day siege that left buildings largely destroyed and hundreds of people dead.

This is what the devastation looks like in images:

The Al-Shifa Hospital complex suffered significant building destruction and bulldozing during the 14 day siege by the Israel Defense Forces, according to new satellite images from Maxar Technologies.

The images, taken on April 1, show that much of the area around the hospital complex in central Gaza City has been leveled. 

Inside the complex, most of the buildings have sustained damage: some have been completely destroyed, others are missing entire facades and roofs. 

The grounds of the entire hospital complex is now covered in a layer of bulldozed dirt. 

The Gaza Civil Defense said that at least 300 bodies have been found at the complex, so far. 

"Injured and dead bodies fill the hospital grounds," Gaza Civil Defense captain Mahmoud Bassal told CNN on Monday, adding, "There are bodies buried in the hospital yards."

Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday claimed more than 200 militants had been killed in the hospital. The IDF has repeatedly claimed the Al-Shifa complex was being used by armed militants.